Monday, March 31, 2014

Here we are again. Time to acknowledge the small things that happened during the most recent 31 days. Things that maybe didn't need a full blog, but deserve to be archived forever on the internets.

Here's to Pinterest project that has been sitting on my kitchen craft table since November. I'm about an hours worth of work away from finishing. Maybe that will happen tonight, maybe I'll be talking about it in toast for April.

Here's to the first lake trip. It wasn't successful, but at least our trailer didn't fall off while we were backing it down the ramp. Poor teenagers. They provided some excellent people watching.

Here's to this kitchen. Because it had three dishwashers. One specifically for wine glasses. And I need that in my life.

Here's to a chance meeting with a couple that led to an invite for a crawfish boil and even being invited for the "hot tub" party that happens post crawfish boil.

Here's to Duck dude getting stuffed by a 6 foot rim at neighbor dinner on Friday. And here's to his reaction. And here's to him not getting upset because I just put it on blast. The rim was basically Lebron.

Here's to Saturday funday. Because we have found that they work a lot better than Sunday funday.

Here's to Duck Dude's best friend asking me to take her baby to "Mommy and Me" swim lessons with her 1 year old in June. I feel honored that she finds me responsible enough to do so.

Here's to this tweet that made me laugh out loud. It combines my love of math and my 13 year old girls who "literally die" whenever something is happening to them.

April. You are a joke. You are especially funny since you start off with Staar testing. Everyone loves standardized testing. Bring it on.

Friday, March 28, 2014

It's Friday. Thank goodness. I'm seeing a lot of sentiments around blog world that this week was a long week for everybody.. so I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. I am so glad I have nothing planned this weekend.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

For those of you who do not know.. My blonde sister writes for the Baylor newspaper! She's a funny little writer who recently wrote an article over the Disney princesses. So I'm letting her article take over for the day! Enjoy!

Disney princesses are idolized for their enchanting love stories among evil forces. They are known for their poise as well as magnificent dresses and hair. However, the princesses’ hair is the only thing I envy about them.

Young girls are told they deserve to be a princess, but I prefer the peasant life.

Cinderella is portrayed as the luckiest girl to transform from servant into beautiful princess. She finds Prince Charming and falls in love, but that is after she has changed everything about herself. Prince Charming did not meet the girl in rags who scrubs floors and takes verbal abuse from her stepmother. Cinderella would be my role model if she had dumped her water bucket on her stepmom and left to find a paying job. Instead, Cinderella taught me to conform to the upper socioeconomic class if I want to find my “true love.”

Prince Charming bothers me for the fact that he cannot remember Cinderella’s face. It seems like he spent too much time at Scruffy Murphy’s before the ball to be coherent.

The Cinderella method to get a guy at Baylor would be to dress up for each class. The girls who are more put together have a better chance of catching Prince Charming’s eye. As dashing as the functioning alcoholic Prince Charming is, I’ll stick to my Nike shorts and oversized T-shirt.

Arial is a hopeless romantic who wants to find love and gain legs. She watched Prince Eric for several days and knew what time he went to the beach to play with his dog. Arial seems like a stage 5 clinger to me, but she does get her prince in the end. The Little Mermaid taught me stalking is acceptable if you really like the guy.

Arial’s method at Baylor is something few would admit too. While walking to class you pass an attractive person that you may or may not know. If you take the same path the next class period in hopes of seeing that person again, you have succumbed to the Arial method.

Arial would most likely take it a step further and notice any greek letters or sports affiliation to Facebook stalk later. Facebook messages are one of the creepiest ways to initiate conversations so everyone should say no to the Arial method.

Ariel as well as Jasmine are rarely seen with something covering their midriff. Multiple Halloweens as a child were spent arguing with my mother because she claimed the Jasmine costume was not appropriate. Now my desire to be Jasmine has dissipated, but plenty of girls use her costume as an excuse to dress like an exotic dancer.

Disney princesses as a whole taught me that I should always have a helper to do everything for me. Cinderella has rodents and birds, Arial has sea friends and Snow White has seven dwarfs she bosses around. I have sang to the stray cats of Waco for quite some time and not one of them has offered to sew me a dress.

It seems fair to me that new members of an organization should have duties to help older members. For example they could clean older member’s houses. Girls are always told they deserve to be treated like a princess so I shouldn’t have to clean my house.

Disney created these princesses to be idolized for their success in creating a special image, but the princesses never leave their old life until they have a prince to depend on. There is no other story line besides finding their true love and promptly getting married. Plenty of girls eat these story lines up, but I’m not searching for a Prince Charming any time soon.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

One time, in college, someone challenged my good friend
Holly and me. They said, “Holls and Molls, I bet you cannot go a month without
facebook.” And I said, “I guarantee you I can.” That’s when the challenge was
formed. Even though neither Holly nor I were catholic, we were gonna give up
Facebook for lent.

It was the easiest challenge I’d ever done. What did I win?
A whole lotta pride.

So then the next year came along and I thought to myself, I
ought to challenge myself again! At this point, I was still playing volleyball and
ate like a horse. So I cut out beef. Which was a whole lot harder than I
thought it would be. I love chicken now, but back then I would have picked a
hamburger over grilled chicken sandwich 11 out of 10 times.

The next year came along, and I cut out French fries. Hard.

The next year came along, and I cut out bread. Hardest.

The next year came along, and I cut out vegetables. Kidding.

So when lent came around this year, I decided I was done
with the whole cutting out food thing and wanted to do something different. My
mom said cut out coffee, I said that would be dumb because I’d just replace it
with diet coke. My boyfriend said cut out diet coke, and I asked him why he
wanted me dead. I read about cutting out texting, and while I thought that was
interesting, it’d make my school days a lot more boring.

So I decided on intentionally praying for people. And when I would pray
for someone, I would also send them a hand written card to brighten their day. It would help me out with the revolutions I made waaay back in January.

But I have failed miserably.

I’ve sent one card. All of lent. So, I’m basically lent-less.
And that makes me a little sad. Maybe I’ll try again next year? Or maybe I’ll
give up bread again.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Duck Dude wasn't feeling well yesterday, so naturally I asked if he needed me to come over!

He said, "I'll rent Frozen."

And I took that as a resounding YES!

He said the only thing that sounded good was a grilled cheese and soup. So I stopped at the store on the way over and picked up some soup. Once again, those avocados were staring me right in the face! I had to get some. I can't not get some. Unless you're new around here, you know we love our avocados. Luckily, Duck Dude said it sounded good to him too and we stuffed our faces with avocado grilled cheese and broccoli cheese soup.

Duck Dude likes a little mayo on his grilled cheese, but I just like mine plain.

Monday, March 24, 2014

The weekend started off with Duck Dude picking me up and telling me he got me a lucky charm! I opened up a pandora bracelet with a shamrock charm on it! It's very similar to this one, but minus the green things on the sides! And the best part was.. it did bring me good luck all throughout the weekend!

The first night we played roulette. I watched for a little while, sized up the table and finally got the nerve to get on. We had so much fun since it was all our group on one table! The dealer loved us, especially Naked Nick, and the pit boss ended up giving all 8 of us a $20 voucher to the diner which we used for lunch the next day!

The next day the parent showed up, a couple more friends got there, and we headed back to the tables. This time Duck Dude's dad wanted to take me to blackjack. I said ok, we sat down and started talking. All of a sudden, the dealer says "Ya know, my fiance is 17 years older than me, too!" Duck Dude's dad just went with it and when the dealer left the table she told everyone good luck, but a double good luck to us. Shortly after she left, Duck Dude came up to the table and we spilled the beans to everyone else sitting at the table. Duck Dude's dad said, "This is my son's girlfriend... and I never lied. She just assumed." Which was all very true.

We got ready for the night and jumped in cars to head to Superior Bar and Grill. A fantastic little Mexican food place.

We had a group of 16 and not many of us have quiet personalities. My cheeks hurt by the end of the night because I was laughing so hard, so often. There were napkin bras and Naked Nick's dad looking precious, and then there was the bathroom situation. Duck Dude's sister, Naked Nick's mom, and I went to the bathroom together in group girl style. We had never been there so someone pointed out the way to the restrooms. We walk through one door and I see what I assume are two stalls. I tell Naked Nick's mom she can go first. That's about the time when Duck Dude's sister screams "We're in the MENS!!!!!" I turn around and take off running much to the dismay of a gentleman who walked in behind us. Naked Nick's mom starts yelling "No we're not!!!" Turns out the two "stalls" that I saw were actually the mens on the right and the womens on the left. We laughed and laughed at ourselves and then told everyone our story once we got back to the table!

We had such a fun night! Stayed up way too late! But made a lot of memories! I think Duck Dude's sister had a great birthday and I think it's safe to say if Duck Dude has a work meeting in Shreveport that he needs me to accompany him to, I'd be willing to go!

Friday, March 21, 2014

Today I'm linking up over here for Five on Friday for the first time ever! Woo! I think I've got a good list though! So here we go!

One.

My bracket took a couple hits yesterday. And by hits, I mean, I'm 10 for 16. Yikes. But no worries... my Baylor Bears play today and I've already promised my students if they finish their quiz early, we can watch the game on the projector. #coolteacher #brainwashing

Two.

I painted my nails last night and I'm kinda in love with them. Matte pink and gold glitter. To me this says "I'm ready for some gamblin!!!"

Three.

I'm gambling for the first time ever this weekend (do not worry mom, I'll be smart!) Duck Dude and his mom are ready to teach me and I'm pretty excited to learn! I'm just hoping beginner's luck is a real thing!! I've never been known to have a good poker face.

Four.

Opening Day is in TEN days!!! And since my bracket's name is "I miss college football" the least the sports world can do is begin baseball season! It's a pretty dang good tide me over! Boys in tight pants, who's complaining?

Five.

Happy birthday to Duck Dude's sister!!!! It is Friday and it is celebration time!!! I am so glad you decided to have a birthday this weekend! :)

Thursday, March 20, 2014

I am really terrible at eating breakfast. Unless it's a granola bar in class or I happen to have yogurt in my school fridge, I don't eat breakfast on school mornings. During the weekend, I eat oatmeal... but I wake up for school at 6:45...get out of bed at 7:15... and leave at 7:30.. there's no time for oatmeal. And sometimes I get burnt out on yogurt.

So when I saw this recipe for Power Muffins... I thought that's exactly what I need! I pinned it, here, and I actually got around to making them this week! You can find the recipe I used exactly right here (she has a much prettier picture) or just follow the pin..... or just keep reading.

Today was my second morning eating them, and I have to say, they are pretty good. Duck Dude still says he has to be the official taste tester.. but I think he will like them. My favorite part is the blueberries, and I am not even a big fan of blueberries. I did put the power muffins recipe into Myfitnesspal to see just how much "power" I was getting from them. Now, this is for 2 muffins.. but I was pleasantly surprised! They've kept me full and I like the 16g of protein.

I would definitely make them again... which is a good sign, right? Here's the recipe! Thanks Domesticated Academic for posting a fantastic one!

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

I planned one day out of Spring break to be a shopping day. I picked the coldest day of the week to go to the Allen Premium Outlets. My thinking was, I wouldn't want to be doing anything outside, so that would be my day to go! Then Duck Dude's sister got off work and she met me there!

I had one goal for the day: shorts.

I feel like I'm in that weird stage where I do not want to look like a college student in my slutty shorts, however I also do not want to look like I'm 55 with shorts down to my knees. It's a weird place to be, and I needed some shorts that understood me and said "you look super sophisticated, but you're still in touch with style."

We went into JCrew to start and I am so glad we did. Their 3 in Chino shorts are the perfect style for me. You can click on the link to go to their actual website, but at the outlet mall, they were $40 and 40% off of that. For those of you who do not enjoy doing math in your head. That's $24 for shorts! I got 3 colors - kelly green, navy, and a denim stripe that I love!

Then I got these two shirts as well! The first one is a neon orange that freaked my camera out! It will be perfect with white pants for vacation! The second is a tank top that was super comfy and will probably be great with those navy shorts I bought!

Then we went into Under Armour. Seriously, all about shorts. And since I'm working out and all a coach, I always need work out clothes. I bought the best shorts ever. I have the shorts on the left and I like them. However they're super flappy. That's my term for if you were standing and a gust of wind blew, they are so loose you might show some cheek. The ones on the right are the ones I bought. They are called the Perforated Great Escape and I am so happy Duck Dude's sister convinced me to get them in pink and black. They are $30 on the website, but were marked at $25 for 25% off. Non math people, $18.74, to be exact.

Then Duck Dude's sister and I treated ourselves to lunch for a job well done and I went off to the mall to see if I could get my phone fixed. There was an hour wait, so I obviously had to go to Victoria's Secret. I walk in and there is a sale on swimsuits! I just knew I had to try some on. Between gift cards and the sale, I barely spent any money in there! Here's what I came out with:

Then, the next day, when the weather decided to be back up to 70... I did this.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

I like it because I like filling out a bracket and jumping on bandwagons and acting like I've watched certain teams all year when in reality I've never seen a game. I like it because I can name my bracket "I miss college football" and people know I'm completely serious. I like it because it gives me an excuse to not grade papers because I "have to watch this game."

I do not love it.

I don't get so overly invested that I will cry when a team loses. I do not want to pay money to watch my bracket fall to pieces because I picked all the Big 12 teams to go far. I do not want to explain to people I actually did pick Wofford over Michigan St because "Woff" reminds me of dogs and I like dogs. And I do not like losing to boys.

Which brings me to this very last minute idea.

I created a pool for only girls on yahoo's tourney pick em. Where we can pick teams based on their colors or mascots and we can laugh when Michigan St beats Wofford by 27. So I bring to you my pool name and password:

So if you feel like joining in, do so, just click the pool name and it will take you right to it!! You just have to have your picks in by tomorrow night!!!! I told you it was last minute. And get ready to cheer like a madwoman for Wofford whatever team you choose!!

Monday, March 17, 2014

...in pictures! I had the most relaxing, wonderful Spring break! It was definitely a break and I loved it so much! Now thanks to our snow days, we have 10 marvelous weeks without a day off! And I have grades due and track meets and meetings and interviews and... maybe I should stop complaining since I had a week off.

And now I have to go actually teach... volume of prisms/cylinders. When really I would rather soak up a large container of tanning oil and get some rays. Warm weather come back!!